UPDATE: Oppenheimer Downgrades Ascena Retail Group (ASNA) to Perform

Oppenheimer downgraded Ascena Retail Group (NASDAQ: ASNA) from Outperform to Perform and removed its price target (prior $12.00). The downgrade followed disappointing Q4 results.

Analyst Anna Andreeva said, "ASNA's F4Q16 EPS miss is disappointing with weaker July (traffic down HSD) costing half the earnings miss as predicting the future across a multiple brand portfolio in today's retail environment is becoming a bigger challenge (good results over "events", weaker in between). Justice turnaround proceeding on plan, with QTD comps positive, even post key back-to-school; rest of the portfolio is showing additional cracks (DB, Maurices, ANN and Catherine's all decelerated), with QTD trend negative across all brands but Justice. After-hours, the stock is trading at 12x FY17E (calendar) reflecting portfolio volatility; while F1Q17 guide looks conservative and ASNA fits the bill for 2H margin recovery on top of easing compares, 2H17 still embeds hockey stick."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Ascena Retail Group click here. For more ratings news on Ascena Retail Group click here.

Shares of Ascena Retail Group closed at $8.12 yesterday.

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